Game Room Opening in Belk Library

Inside the new Game Room on the second floor of Belk Library (click for larger image).

Who says the library is only for reading and studying? When the new Game Room opens on July 6, you will be able to check out and play video games. The Game Room is located in Room 218 of Belk Library and Information Commons.

An initiative of the library’s Technology Services, the Game Room will open on Monday, July 6, 2015. Our tech people have installed a multimedia rack in the room that houses three gaming systems: Xbox One, Nintendo Wii U, and Playstation 4. A dual boot Mac mini computer is also available.

Booking and Using the Game Room

You can book Room 218 for a maximum of 4 hours, and the room can be used for either group study purposes or to play video games. To use the room for gaming, you must check out a key from the Tech Desk on the Lower Level to open the cabinet containing the game consoles.

Checking Out and Playing Video Games

In addition to using the gaming consoles, you may also check out a container with game controllers and a limited number of video games. We have approximately five games and four controllers for each game system.

Technology Services will work with the Learning and Research Services team to minimize any disruption to other students and staff. We will also be getting some sound dampening in the room to help offset any potential noise issues.

In conjunction with the library’s Service Implementation committee, we will address signage and other communication needs. If you have any questions, please contact Scott Rice, Coordinator of Technology Services (email: ricese@appstate.edu; phone: 828-262-8306).

Is ASU selling degrees or providing an education? Are we marketing the library to kids or providing the foundations of learning to academics? At a time when the state is screaming about fiscal shortfalls and charging higher tuition, how can this expense even be justified, especially in an environment of higher learning?

This is very unfortunate, and I urge the library to reconsider this decision. Professors work had to make this institution academically serious. At an institution when the values of consumerism, entertainment, and sports are being emphasized far more than they should, the library remain an oasis of scholarly seriousness. Now not even the library can be associated with the seriousness of reading and study. I realize this may not have been the intention, but opening such a room undermines the seriousness and nobility of our mission as a university. Please reconsider.